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Reinforced capacity of Probation Services from Moldova and Armenia for managing violent offenders

The first progress meeting on the pilot-implementation of the new Offender Behaviour Programme (OBP) for reducing violent behaviour of offenders brought together Moldovan and Armenian probation counsellors on 22 October 2025, for sharing their experiences and good practices, and using the lessons learned to further adapt and maximise the efficiency of the programme in both countries.

Both the National Probation Inspectorate of the Republic of Moldova and the State Probation Service of Armenia are implementing in pilot-mode the new Programme for almost one year and have successfully delivered several full cycles of the new Programme for 151 offenders in Moldova, and 23 in Armenia so far.

At the close of the exchange session, both Probation Services expressed their commitment to continued cooperation and building a long-term partnership between the probation services of Moldova and Armenia.

The exchange of experience session was part of the 1st progress and consolidation session on piloting the new program system-wide in Moldova, held on 20- 22 October 2025 in Chisinau and was attended by the Armenian partners online.

This initiative is part of the Council of Europe’s broader efforts to strengthen the capacity of probation services in the Republics of Moldova and Armenia, including through diversifying the range of rehabilitative interventions to better address the complex needs of medium- and high-risk offenders.

The activity was organised under the auspice of the Council of Europe Projects “Further strengthening the prison and probation systems, the provision of health care, and the treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova” and “Further Strengthening the Probation Service in Armenia” financed and implemented through the Council of Europe Action Plans for Moldova (2025 – 2028) and Armenia (2023 – 2026).

 

ARMENIA-MOLDOVA 22 OCTOBER 2025
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What is the goal and objective of the project?

Building upon the results achieved from the implementation of the Projects “Support the scaling-up of the probation service in Armenia” and “Strengthening the Probation Service in Armenia”, the Project “Further Strengthening the Probation Service in Armenia” financed by the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2023 – 2026 assists national authorities in facilitating the use of probation services in the country, thus enhancing community safety and the fair administration of justice.

It is implemented in close cooperation and partnership with the Ministry of Justice and State Probation Service, as well as other national stakeholders, including civil society organisations active in the area of probation.

The envisaged changes will support the Armenian authorities to align the legislation and practice with Council of Europe standards, such us, inter alia Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)1 on the Council of Europe Probation Rules and Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)3 on the European Rules on community sanctions and measures.

 Start date: 1 January 2025

 Duration: 24 months

 Funding: EUR 500,000,  Donors contributing to the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2023–2026 

Contact person: Mr Arman Poghosyan, Senior Project Officer

 

Who benefits from the project?
  • Ministry of Justice
  • State Probation Service staff
  • Penitentiary Service staff
  • Centre for the Implementation of Legal Education and Rehabilitation Programmes SNCO staff
  • judges and other legal professionals
  • general public
How does the project work?

The Project will follow the main Council of Europe principles throughout its intervention.

Namely, the Probation Service shall aim to reduce reoffending by establishing positive relationships with probationers in order to supervise, guide and assist them and to promote their successful social inclusion. All interventions will be in line with Council of Europe human rights standards and shall have due regard to the dignity, health, safety and well-being of probationers, and it must take full account of the individual characteristics, circumstances and needs of each specific offender in order to ensure that each case is dealt with justly and fairly. Probation service shall work in partnership with other public or private organisations, civil society organisations and local communities to promote the social inclusion of probationers. Co-ordinated and complementary inter-agency and inter-disciplinary work is necessary to undertake to meet often complex needs of probationers and to enhance community safety.

What do we expect to achieve?
  • strengthening the Probation Service through necessary tools and capacity building interventions-new training programme will be developed and support will be provided to enhance E-probation and application of risk and needs assessment tool as well as pre-release reports;
  • improving inter-agency cooperation -regular inter-agency information sharing and coordination meetings as well as workshops will be conducted to ensure effective implementation of the Probation functions;
  • improving resocialisation and rehabilitation measures - support will be provided to strengthen the pool of rehabilitation and resocialisation programmes and ensure coordination with the key stakeholders;
  • Improving regulatory framework on the Probation Service in line with the international standards and best practices in Europe-technical support and expertise will ensure that the pending legislative initiatives are assessed against the CoE standards.
Reference documents